


The Best Thing

by Deannachu



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: College AU, F/M, M/M, Multi, Multiple Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1660679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deannachu/pseuds/Deannachu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After leaving behind a painfully lonely high school experience, Michael is eager and anxious to start college, especially when he learns he's going to have a roommate. When that roommate turns out to be Gavin Free, the complete opposite of Michael himself, he realizes that this year will not only bring about new experiences and new people, but Michael will begin to realize that maybe being alone isn't the best thing that could happen to him; maybe, just maybe, the best thing that could happen to him just so happens to sleep on the other side of the room.</p><p>ON HIATUS FOR NOW (due to lack of inspiration for it, etc.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I completely redid chapter one and changed the summary and title, but here's my college AU, just as promised! <3 I don't have a set schedule for updates, so just like Here I Am, they will be random (but I'll try to do at least two chapters a week if that helps!) I hope you guys like it and remember, I'm shit at summaries so the story will definitely be better than my summary. :)

Pulling into the parking lot of his new dorm building, Michael put the car in park and just sat there, taking all of it in. He had graduated high school and was moving onto the next step in life: college. He tossed and turned the night before, anxious to finally be moving into his dorm the following day. He lowered the volume of the radio in his car and shuffled around, locating his phone and other smaller items before finally removing the keys and exiting, popping the trunk in the process. His parents pulled in behind him, their car also filled with items he would be bringing along.

He began to rummage through his trunk, picking out the more important boxes containing his Xbox and other electronics, choosing to take those inside first. His parents grabbed other boxes containing clothing or personal items and followed him inside the building, making their way up the staircase to the second floor. “Are you excited to have a roommate, Mikey?” asked his mom, grinning. He shrugged.

“I guess so; I mean, it’ll be different, that’s for sure.” He wasn’t used to having to share a room because he was an only child, so he was a little apprehensive about this whole room sharing thing. He wanted a single room but they didn’t offer those until junior year, some bullshit about the students getting to meet others and make friends. He was much more content with being by himself, sitting in his room and playing his Xbox or making YouTube videos.

Michael never really had friends in school, only socializing with a select few people, but even then they all moved away after graduation, leaving Michael by himself once again. He wasn’t what some would call anti-social, but he wouldn’t be the first to volunteer to go to some party either. He came off as rude ninety percent of the time, mostly using it as a defense mechanism because he didn’t like getting close to people, and it worked. People left him alone and that’s the way he liked it.

Well, sometimes, anyway. There were times he wished he had a close friend, someone who he could hang out with and play video games with. Then he would witness, back in school, a falling out with two friends or he would witness all of the unnecessary drama that comes along with friendship and he would just chuckle to himself because damn, what the fuck had he been thinking? Being alone was much less hassle.

“Maybe you two will grow close,” she suggested, placing a hand on his shoulder as they made their way up the stairs. “I remember when I started college way back in the day, I had this roommate…”

“Oh look, here it is!” Michael interrupted her. He had heard all of her “I remember when…” stories, and even though he loved his mother she still didn’t understand that Michael was nothing like her, aside from his looks. While she was president of everything in school, Michael quietly got by just focusing on his academics; she had multiple boyfriends and Michael had only had one girlfriend in his life. He liked being alone and she just couldn’t understand why. She scoffed at his obvious attempt at steering the conversation away from her story and his dad just chuckled.

“Smooth, Michael,” he laughed. Michael rolled his eyes but didn’t open the door, sticking his ear to the frame instead. He heard faint sounds of laughter and noises that sounded vaguely electronic, like a video game of some kind.

_“Bollocks!”_ came the shout through the door and Michael jumped back, running into his parents in the process.

“Fuc—freaking heck,” he stopped himself, giving his mother an angelic smile when she glared at his almost fuck up in front of her. She knew he cursed like a sailor, but she preferred he keep a clean mouth when she was in the room. He reached out a hand and turned the doorknob hesitantly, pushing the door open to reveal a decent sized room. Two beds were at the opposite ends of the room with a bathroom off one end. Half of the room was bare, containing just the standard sized bed, a desk, a dresser, and some small shelves. The other half was decorated with bright posters and other personal items, including a huge TV hooked up to an Xbox, which was currently being played by…

The boy’s eyes lit up at the entrance of Michael and his parents and he smiled brightly, looking like a little kid who just got a brand new toy. _Fucking Christ,_ Michael thought, _he’s going to be one of_ those. “Gotta go Geoff,” he said into his headset. “Yeah, my new roommate is here.” _And he’s British._ He listened for a second before rolling his eyes, “No I am _not_ going to ask him that, bloody hell. Goodbye Geoff.” He punched a few buttons on his controller before removing his headset and jumping up, rushing over to the group. He stuck out his hand to Michael. “I’m Gavin.”

Michael fumbled around the (heavy) box he was carrying and managed to give a quick shake to Gavin’s hand before having to set the box down on the bed. “Oh sorry mate, let me help you,” Gavin said before taking the boxes from his parents and setting them on the bed as well.

“We’re going to go get the other boxes Mikey, so you can start unpacking,” his mom said, smiling at the two boys before she and his dad left the room. Michael smiled nervously at Gavin before reaching into the boxes, pulling out items here and there.

“So your name’s Michael?” asked Gavin.

“Yeah, my mom likes to call me anything but that though,” he laughed, pulling out a few of his favorite video games. “She’s still under the impression that I’m five years old.”

Gavin laughed, motioning to the boxes and asking silently if it was okay to help. Michael nodded and Gavin began rummaging, pulling out clothes. “You should have seen my mum when I was moving in; we got here a couple days ago because she had to catch a flight and as I was unpacking she was sniffling and doing the whole _‘my little Gavvy, all grown up’_ thing.” Gavin shivered at the memory, causing Michael to snicker. Wait, why was Michael snickering like he and Gavin had known each other for longer than ten minutes?

“Just wait until my mom has to leave, I guarantee she will do the exact same thing.” Michael began surveying the room for plug-ins, debating where to set up his smaller TV and his console. He finally decided on a spot near Gavin’s giant TV and got to work connecting the wires and letting everything connect to the WiFi.

“Who’s this?” She’s bloody gorgeous,” Gavin commented, causing Michael to turn around. He was holding a picture frame in his hands, admiring it, and Michael stood up, his heart thudding painfully in his chest.

“That was my girlfriend,” he said softly. Gavin’s face fell as he looked at Michael.

“’Was’?” He nodded, gently taking the frame from Gavin’s hands. He didn’t elaborate, and frankly he didn’t know how the picture ended up in there because it was just a painful reminder of what happened his junior year of high school. “Was it a bad breakup, or…?”

“Just drop it, Gavin,” Michael said, an edge to his words. He set the frame face down on his dresser and got back to work unloading the boxes. His parents came up and brought the rest of the boxes, his mother insisting on helping set up part of his room before they left. “Mom, you don’t have to help me; I can unpack alone,” he insisted.

She looked at him, teary-eyed, and sniffed. _Oh no._ “My little Michael is all grown up. Didn’t we raise such a handsome son?” she asked his father, who simply rolled his eyes at his wife’s emotional state and clapped his son on the back.

“Yes we did, Susan, but you’re embarrassing the boy; I think we need to let him set up by himself, dear,” he said, winking at Michael to let him know he was on his side.

“I think we need to capture this moment,” his mom insisted, rummaging through her purse. Michael’s eyes widened and he rushed at her, giving her a hug and all but shoving her out the door.

“No no, mom, no. It’s fine. You don’t have to take a picture of me right now; wait until Thanksgiving break or something, okay?” he begged. Gavin just sniggered at Michael’s embarrassment and Michael flipped him the bird behind his back, causing him to emit a bird like squawk.  

His mom pouted but stopped the search in her purse, instead pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. “Okay, fine, but you can’t stop me at Thanksgiving from taking a picture of my grown up little man.” She began sniffling again and Michael sighed.

“Using ‘grown up’ and ‘little man’ in the same sentence is contradicting yourself mom, and I won’t stop you at Thanksgiving, I promise,” he whined, desperately wanting them to leave. His father gave him a one-armed hug and his mother planted kisses on his face, causing him to grunt in annoyance. He thought they were about to leave the room when his mother shot past him and latched herself onto Gavin, who gave Michael a look of surprise before wrapping his arms hesitantly around her.

“Take care of my boy,” he heard her tell Gavin and Michael let out a frustrated noise.

“Don’t worry, ma’am, I will,” he replied, smiling at Michael behind her back.

* * *

 

Finally they were left in peace and Michael got to work putting clothes on hangers and setting his games on the shelves. Gavin helped out, asking where Michael wanted thing to be placed. After about a solid thirty minutes of meticulous placing, choice swear words, and a giggling fit that had Gavin on the floor making high pitched noises, Michael’s side was set up. Posters were on the wall, clothes were in the closet, and his Xbox was booted up, waiting on Michael patiently to decide if maybe he wanted to play game or watch a bit of Netflix.

Gavin was telling story after story and Michael was genuinely interested in them, even though he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t used to talking to someone for long periods of time, especially not someone he felt extremely comfortable with after only knowing him for about an hour. He was uneasy about how well he and Gavin were getting along and he didn’t know how to react.

“Dan and I could not get the bloody balloon to pop. I did all kinds of front flips, back flips, ass hops, nothing worked. Finally we called a couple of our friends over to help and with all four of us it finally popped. My ass was sore for a fucking week," he laughed, painfully recalling the memory. 

Michael was messing with his phone, browsing through a gaming website. “And why exactly did you do that again?” he asked, looking at Gavin with a ‘what the fuck’ face.

“I told you, you donut, Dan and I make slow motion videos for YouTube,” he replied, rolling his eyes. Michael’s ears perked up at ‘YouTube.’

“You make YouTube videos?” he asked. Gavin nodded. “Me too. Although mine don’t sound half as interesting as yours. I just make videos of myself playing video games, mostly. Most of them are just me rage quitting or I’m doing a guide on how to get achievements or something.”

Gavin’s eyes lit up as he realized they had something in common. “Really? What’s your channel? There’s a channel that I’m absolutely obsessed with; he does all kinds of funny rage commentary on the most random games. I’m usually in stitches by the time it’s over. The channel is-“

“LtMkilla,” Michael said, causing Gavin to squeak in surprise and nearly fall off the bed.

“You like him too?!”

Michael shook his head, amused at Gavin’s fangirling, and knew he was about to probably get tackled off the bed. “No, you idiot, _I’m_ LtMkilla. That’s my channel.” He moved out of the way just as Gavin lunged for him. _Called it._

“No fucking way,” he shouted, muffled by the fact that his face was in Michael’s pillow. He sat up, his face red with excitement. “My roommate is fucking _LtMkilla?”_

“Er…” Michael lifted his arms in the air. “Surprise?” Although it sounded more like a question because the way Gavin was staring at Michael was starting to scare him. “I feel like you should be frothing at the mouth or something, dude. You’re frightening me.”

Gavin jumped off the bed and tackled Michael to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. “I watch all your videos! You’re bloody brilliant!”

“Gavin that’s great,” grunted Michael, annoyed at the boy’s excitement and struggling to catch his breath, “but would you please _get the fuck off of me_?” Gavin just started giggling and Michael smirked. “I warned you.” He started tickling the boy’s stomach and, just as Michael predicted, he began to flail wildly.

“MICHAEL!” Gavin shouted, trying to get away but failing as Michael’s attack became even more aggressive.

“Is someone ticklish? Is Gavvy wavvy a ticklish little boy?” he asked teasingly, continuing his assault. _What the fuck am I doing? I barely even know this guy and yet I’m tickling him on the floor of our dorm. What the hell has gotten into me? I didn’t even want a roommate to begin with, so why am I acting like this is the best thing that could have happened to me?_

Even with all of his doubt, he realized he was having fun with Gavin and he was laughing, laughing so hard that his sides were beginning to hurt. In the midst of all the fun, the two boys didn’t even hear the door open.

“What the hell is going on here?” asked a loud voice, causing the two to break apart. In the doorway stood two guys, one with a mustache and a smirk and the other with a beard and a confused look on his face. The voice belonged to mustache guy and Michael felt his face flame up with embarrassment.

“Geoff!” Gavin squeaked from the floor, jumping up to greet the two new visitors. Michael got up as well, fixing his glasses, which had gone askew, and smoothing down his clothes. He could feel Geoff’s gaze on him but he purposefully avoided looking at him, choosing instead to look at his phone.

“Is this the roommate?” asked the other guy, whose voice was a very pleasant baritone. Gavin nodded.

“Jack, Geoff, this is Michael. You’re not going to believe this but guess who he is?”

They pretended to ponder for a second before Jack humored the Brit. “No idea, who is he?”

Gavin bounced around excitedly, announcing, “He’s LtMkilla!”

“Who?” Geoff questioned, clearly taking pride in messing with Gavin as much as he could. Gavin gasped loudly, smacking Geoff on the shoulder.

“Only the YouTuber I’m absolutely obsessed with!” Gavin shouted, believing that Geoff truly didn’t know who he was talking about. Michael snickered, finally looking up from his phone.

“He’s fucking with you, asshole,” Michael laughed, finally putting an end to the look of pure disappointment on Gavin’s face. Gavin paused before he sighed with relief. Michael walked to them and extended his hand to Geoff and Jack. “Nice to meet you guys.”

“Likewise,” Jack said, smiling.

“Maybe Gavin will finally talk about something else for a change,” Geoff laughed. “You’re honestly all he talks about for weeks at a time when you upload new shit. Now that he’s finally met you I hope he’ll find something else to obsess over.”

“I do not talk about him for _weeks_ at a time-“ Gavin argued before Jack started laughing, cutting him off.

“Really? I have text messages from you from the fucking ass crack of dawn where you’re going on and on about Michael’s new video. You have a problem, my friend.” Gavin rolled his eyes and blushed, causing Michael to laugh at his new roommate’s obvious discomfort.

“Jack, shut up,” he hissed, turning his attention back on Michael.

“I think I’m going to like your friends,” Michael laughed. “And as for my videos, I honestly don’t think they’re anything special.” He shrugged. “It’s just something I do to pass the time when I’m not working or at school.”

“Do your friends know you do these videos?” Gavin asked, smiling. Michael bit his lip.

“No… not really,” he replied hesitantly. Gavin raised an eyebrow at Michael but something on his face must have told Gavin to back off because he didn’t inquire further. It was quiet for a few moments before a loud rumble disturbed the silence.

Gavin looked down at his stomach and grinned, scratching the back of his head. “I think I might be hungry.”

“Yeah no shit,” cackled Geoff. “That’s why we came up here in the first place, to see if you wanted to go grab some food. Michael’s welcome to come too, of course.”

“You hungry, Michael?” asked Gavin, smiling at Michael. He shrugged, resisting the urge to smile back.

“I mean… I could eat,” he replied, stretching. The aching in his side was gone now that he was no longer laughing. Jack raised an eyebrow at him, seeing through his bullshit.

“I mean we can just leave you here to fend for yourself if you want,” he said, amused. Michael’s eyes widened and he waved his hands frantically.

“No, no, I’m fucking starving, let’s get food,” he said, grabbing Gavin by the wrist and dragging him out. Geoff pulled him back, causing Michael to stop. “What’s up?”

“You and Jack go on ahead, I’ve got to ask Gavin something; we’ll be there in a few,” Geoff said smiling, waving them on. Michael and Jack looked at each other and shrugged, leaving them in the room and making small talk on the way to the café.

* * *

 

“Have you and Michael talked much today?” asked Geoff, looking at Gavin curiously. Gavin shook his head.

“No, not really, why?”

“There’s just something… off about him, I guess. Nothing bad, I’m sure, but I feel like there’s something he’s trying to hide, something he doesn’t really want you to know about him,” Geoff explained.

“I mean, I picked up that picture frame over there, and he talked about his girlfriend briefly, in a past tense I might add. Maybe he’s still hurting over her,” he suggested, shrugging.

“Maybe. I just… I feel like we should watch over him, you know? Especially you, idiot, since you’re rooming with him for the year.” Geoff wrapped an arm around the Brit and they left the dorm, heading in the direction of the café.

“Yeah, I get that vibe too,” Gavin responded, careful not to bump into any passing students.

There was a brief silence before Geoff said, “He’s pretty cute too, don’t you think?” in a teasing voice.

“Yeah- wait, Geoff, no. I forbid you to do any hocus pocus bullshit to try and get me a date, especially with someone who’s as straight as Michael is,” Gavin warned, pushing away from his friend. “You know what happened last time, and you know that the guy won’t even talk to me anymore!” Geoff sniggered at Gavin’s panic.

“Relax, asshole. I’m not going to do anything. Besides, how do you know he’s straight? He could swing both ways, for all you know.” Geoff wiggled his eyebrows, causing Gavin to laugh.

“I just want to survive my first year of college, is that too much to ask for?” Gavin whined.

“Fine, fine. I’ll stop. Now let’s go get some food.”


	2. Chapter 2

It was weird waking up in a bed and in a room that he was unfamiliar with. Michael had gone to bed in the same room, on the same mattress, under (mostly) the same covers since he was five years old, not counting the times he passed out drunk at various friends' houses. When he woke up the morning of the start of classes, he jolted up, confused of his surroundings before he heard the soft whistling sounds of Gavin's snoring from across the room. He rubbed his eyes, the first day jitters from last night keeping him awake until early this morning, so of course he was exhausted. He wasn’t sure what time he had gone to bed last night but he knew it was well after midnight.

_Today should be interesting_ , he thought sleepily as he left his warm bed. Light was pouring in between the curtains, casting shadows on the TV screens and the walls. Gavin didn't have class until noon, while Michael had class at ten, but he promised to eat breakfast with him this morning. However, after watching Gavin for a few moments and noting how peaceful he looked while asleep, he decided not to wake him up, confident that he could survive his first day of classes alone. After he had showered and tried (unsuccessfully) to tame his unruly auburn locks, he dressed in silence, admiring how Gavin had managed to stay underneath his blankets. Michael wasn’t exactly a violent sleeper, but it was rare that he would wake up fully covered. Gavin was curled into a ball, covers almost completely thrown over his body, his leg occasionally twitching in his sleep. He heard him start talking, or rather mumbling, in his sleep and thought for a moment that he had awoken, but when a light snore followed soon after he knew that Gavin was just dreaming.

Michael made sure to check Gavin's alarm to make sure it was set before he left the room, backpack slung over his shoulders. He stuck his headphones in his ears, clicking through a playlist and selecting a song with a beat that was sure to wake him up and help shake his nerves, and made his way out of his dorm, walking towards the Cafe. Unlike high school, no one really paid attention to him. Back in high school, people weren’t mean, per say, but since he never really applied himself to any groups or activities, the students looked at him oddly, whispered behind their hands. And after junior year… well, the whispering got worse. But all around him here, there were couples walking happily hand-in-hand, people of all types skateboarding, students with textbooks clutched against their chests or half eaten apples in hand, and no one really paid attention to him. A few smiled at him or nodded their heads in greeting if he caught their eyes but he was pretty much left alone.

He pulled out his phone to answer a text message from his mother and to check a Facebook notification when he ran smack into something hard.

Correction: somebody hard. "Fuck," he cursed, clutching his head. He had bumped heads with a black haired guy who had glasses and some light facial hair. His earbuds slipped from his ears, but thankfully his phone stayed in his hand. He could hear the faint drums from the song he had been listening to. The other guy seemed to have been checking his phone too and not really paying attention, just like Michael. "Sorry, man, I didn't look where I was going."

The other guy smiled sheepishly at Michael, rubbing his forehead. "It's no problem, man. I wasn't looking, either. I didn't make you drop your phone or anything did I?" Michael shook his head, holding his up, his earbuds dangling. The guy exhaled in relief. "Thank God. The last thing I need is to pay for someone's iPhone; I'm already broke as shit."

"I hear you on that,” he said, nervously fumbling to put his earbuds back in. He left one dangling so he wouldn’t seem rude. It was difficult to talk to someone he didn’t really know which, now that he was at college, was basically everybody.

"Ray Narvaez Jr.; not to be mistaken with my father," the guy joked, sticking out his hand after the uncomfortable silence. Michael laughed, standing somewhat awkwardly with him.

“Michael Jones.” He stuck his own hand out and shook, the laughter taking a little of the edge off of his nerves.

"So, uh, where were you headed?" Ray finally asked as his stomach decided to take that time to make loud, unnecessary noises. Michael snickered, but abruptly stopped when it decided it wanted to play the call of its people, just like Ray’s. He blushed as Ray laughed at him.

“I’m headed to the Café to get some food, actually,” he replied, scratching the back of his head. I don’t have a class until ten. You?”

"Well," he said, "I just left my dorm and was heading towards the Café, too. Or, well, I thought I was. This campus is fucking huge."

"I know how you feel. I know where it is already, though, so I could show you if you wanted?" Michael offered, ready to just fucking get some food in his stomach before he keeled over from hunger. Ray smiled, looking relieved. 

"Absolutely. I’m relieved I bumped into you, actually, because I really didn’t want to eat alone," he admitted. Michael smiled at the other boy and squeezed his shoulder. He knew exactly how Ray felt, not wanting to walk into the Café alone and have to eat all by himself either.

The two walked in the direction of the Café, making small talk along the way. It turns out Ray was from New York and was an avid gamer, just like Michael. His face lit up when Michael told him about his channel and Ray told him he was a big fan of his videos, which made Michael smile even wider than he already was. They were talking about Halo when they finally reached the Cafe, continuing their conversation when they entered the large area. Smells were wafting all around them: waffles, pancakes, bacon, eggs... you name it, the Cafe had it. Ray and Michael filled their plates high and gathered their drinks, finding an empty booth in the corner.

In between devouring their breakfast they discussed their schedules for the year. They were pleased to learn that they shared several classes, including Composition I and Into to Programming. "I really want to maybe design video games one day, or edit for a really big company," explained Michael through bites of bacon. "That's something I've wanted since I was maybe thirteen? Ever since I discovered the joys of gaming. I was never really social in school so that's what I did." He didn’t elaborate on the last part, but Ray didn’t seem to want an explanation, his eyes lighting up as Michael shared his future dreams.

"Same. I hardly ever went outside in high school; I preferred the comfort of my bedroom and gaming chair to-" Ray shivered jokingly - "nature." Michael laughed at his new friend's joke, finding comfort in his company. It was easy to just sit here and talk to Ray, like they had been friends forever. It was nerve-wracking that he was finding it so easy to talk to strangers than to people he had grown up with his whole life, but this was a new start. People didn’t know him here, he wasn’t known as that weird guy who never went to pep rallies or football games anymore. He was just Michael Vincent Jones, college student. The two were so caught up talking that they didn’t notice three new shadows creeping up on them.

"Thanks for waking me up, Michael," pouted Gavin, plate of food in one hand and his drink in another. Gavin looked like he had literally just rolled out of bed, wet his hair, and thrown on clothes. Which, even only knowing him for a short period of time, Michael suspected that’s probably exactly what he did. His backpack hung off of one shoulder, zipper slightly open. Michael jumped up and quickly helped the Brit set his food down before it spilled all over the occupants on the table. Jack and Geoff just rolled their eyes at their friend and took seats themselves. "Who's this?" Ray turned a light shade of pink, avoiding the new occupants' gazes. Michael could tell that Ray was slightly uncomfortable getting so much new attention.

"This is Ray. We, uh, literally bumped into each other on the way to the Cafe," Michael explained. Ray grinned sheepishly at him, choosing to shovel eggs in his mouth rather than speak. Gavin smiled at the man before letting out a "cheers" and digging into his food. Jack and Geoff, mouths full, lifted their forks in lieu of a greeting. "He's in a couple of my classes, and he’s a gamer just like me, actually. His gamer score is absolutely insane, guys.”

"No shit? What kind of games do you like?" asked Geoff curiously. Ray blushed again, not used to the praise from Michael or having someone genuinely interested in things he likes.

"Halo, mostly. Super Smash Brothers. There's too many to name," he said. "I've got all of the achievements in Halo, though, so I'm pretty damn proud of that." Jack raised his eyebrows, impressed. 

“Well, since Michael says you have a really high gamer score, I wouldn’t doubt that you’ve got all of the achievements,” Jack laughed good-naturedly.

"Michael, we never talked about the classes we were taking this year," Gavin said, pulling a crinkled sheet of paper from his backpack. Michael took it from him and, after rolling his eyes and smoothing it out, scanned it, comparing it mentally with his own.

"We've got Composition I with Ray, and you and I have History since 1876 together," Michael said, excited to have a class with not only Gavin but Ray too. At least there were three classes he knew he would know at least one person. Jack and Geoff were discussing their own schedules but, being a year above the lads, they had already taken their general education requirements, so they didn't have any classes with them. "Speaking of class, I guess we better head to Comp. It starts in twenty minutes and the building is at the other side of campus." 

Michael, Ray, and Gavin got up and threw their trash away, waving goodbye to the other two, and began their walk to the English building. It was nice and warm outside, making their walk a pleasant one. They chatted along the way, cracking lame, dick-filled jokes, telling a couple of stories, and learning more about each other. They laughed when Gavin got too close to a squirrel that was minding its own business on a nearby tree and it started chasing the Brit around, causing him to let out high pitched squeals of terror. When they reached the building and entered, heading to the floor where their class was on, they waited outside the classroom among other chattering students, keeping mainly to themselves; although Gavin's accent attracted a lot of (mainly) female attention.

"That one girl keeps looking at you, Gav," Michael teased, subtlety nodding in the direction of a very pretty red head waiting down the hall. She was staring shyly at the back of Gavin’s head, fussing with her hair and trying to look like she wasn’t obviously staring, even though Michael smirked at her when she caught his eye. Gavin almost turned around to look when Michael grabbed him by the shoulders. "Don't look, you idiot! She'll know we're fucking talking about her." Even though he knew that she knew they were discussing her, it would still be stupidly obvious if he looked.

"Oh, right. Sorry," he said, blushing. He slowly turned just so he could catch a quick glimpse of her before turning back to his friends. He shrugged, looking clearly unimpressed at what he saw. "She's pretty I guess, but not really my type." Michael and Ray exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Dude she's gorgeous, how can she not be your type?" Michael whispered incredulously, waving his arms. Gavin just shrugged.

"She's just not, okay? Can we please change the subject?" he begged, smiling at the boys. Michael rolled his eyes but pressed no further on the subject.

"Yeah, sure. But I still think you’re a fucking idiot." Gavin rolled his eyes and was about to playfully shove Michael when the professor decided to walk down the hall. He didn't have anything in his arms except for a small stack of papers, causing Michael to cheer silently. A small stack of papers could only mean one thing: they weren’t having an actual class today.

"I'm Professor Burns, and since today is pretty much just syllabus day anyway, there's really no point in even going into the classroom. If you were really looking forward to that, well, sorry to disappoint. Here are your syllabi, make sure you have your textbook on Wednesday, and have a great rest of your day," he said, handing out the papers and turning on his heel back to his office. The lads exchanged a look before shrugging and following the students to the exit. 

"Well that seems like it's going to be a pretty laid back class," Michael commented, shoving the paper in his backpack. "My next class isn't until this evening at five; I got up at the ass crack of dawn-“Gavin gave him a look- “okay maybe it was like eight. Anyway, I got up early for this class and we didn’t even do anything? I could be sleeping right now!” he grumbled to his laughing friends, zipping up his backpack as they walked.

“What class do you have that late, Michael?” asked Gavin curiously.

 “It's a coding class that for some fucking reason was only offered as a night class." Ray grimaced and Gavin made a sympathetic noise. Michael shrugged and a yawn suddenly escaped him; all the food he ate added to the lack of sleep he got last night made him want to go back to his dorm and take a long nap.

"Sorry man, that sucks ass. Hey, want to come back to my dorm? We can play video games if you want. I've got a second controller," Ray offered, luckily only having one class on Mondays. Michael let out another involuntary yawn, stretching, and noticed the hopeful look on Ray’s face fall. “I mean, if you’d rather go back to your dorm and sleep or something, that’s fine too…”

“No no,” Michael insisted, suppressing a third yawn. “I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night; first day jitters and all. I’ll be fine if I just play a video game or something. You don’t happen to have caffeine at your dorm do you?”

“I’ve got mountain dew, Dr. Pepper, cherry Coke, and water,” Ray offered.

“Thank God; yeah I’d like to hang out, it’ll be fun,” Michael said happily, smiling at his new friend.

Gavin sighed, unhappy. "I've got a class at noon, but I can swing by after if that's okay?" asked Gavin, looking at Ray hesitantly. The Puerto Rican just smiled at the Brit, who looked relieved that he would be able to join the boys after his class.

"Absolutely; it's Dorm Building B, room 304. Just drop by whenever." Ray and Gavin exchanged numbers just in case Gavin got lost on his way to the dorm, and the lads finally parted ways, Michael and Ray walking in the direction of Ray's dorm. Halfway there, in the middle of talking about what video games they were excited for that were coming out this year, Ray quickly ducked behind Michael, using him as a human shield. Michael jumped slightly at the sudden movement and tried to turn around to look at Ray, but couldn’t.

"Dude what the fuck?" asked Michael, confused as to what was going on. Ray seemed content to not move from behind him, clinging tightly to his backpack.

"Did he see me?" whispered Ray nervously. Michael looked around frantically, afraid there was some kind of mass murderer or something on the loose looking for Ray. Students were walking past them, some alone and some in groups, not paying one lick of attention to the two freshmen.

"Did who see you? What the hell-"

"That guy, the tall, kind of muscular, sandy-haired guy with the blue backpack. Is he looking?" asked Ray in a panicked voice. Michael found the man in question after some searching, finding him sitting against a tree, headphones in his ears, just seeming to be people watching, lost in his own world. He was blissfully unaware of the scrawny Puerto Rican taking cover behind the curly haired guy in the beanie. Michael shook his head and continued walking, Ray clinging to his side.

"He doesn’t give a fuck about us, bro. Why are you freaking out? Do you owe him money or something?" Michael joked once they were out of earshot of the guy. Ray's cheeks were bright pink and his hands were shaking. "Why are you so shaken over this guy, Ray?"

He looked at his shoes as they walked. "Ikindahaveacrushonhim," he mumbled. Michael stopped, surprised. Ray seemed genuinely shy and flustered over this guy; he remembered feeling that way once…

He shook his head, determined not to bring that painful memory back up. "You like that guy?"

Ray nodded. "Ever since I moved in to my dorm; he lives in the room across from mine and he helped me when I was struggling with a box." He got a dreamy look in his eyes as he recalled the moment he first met the guy and Michael smirked at him before snapping his fingers in front of Ray’s face, bringing him back to Earth.

"Do you know his name?"

"It's Ryan. I don't know a last name, but I know his name is Ryan. He's a sophomore, like Jack and Geoff. And I am totally out of my league with this one, aren't I?" Ray was panicking again. Michael slung an arm around his friend's shoulders and squeezed, continuing their walk toward Ray’s dorm.

"Nah dude; if you like the guy just try and get to know him. Invite him over for a game night or something; does he like video games?” he asked.

Ray nodded, eager. “His door was open when he was helping me, and I saw an Xbox and a gaming PC set up in his room.”

“Well there you go. Let’s get Geoff, Jack, Gavin, and Ryan to come to a game night this Friday or something. It’ll be fun, all of us hanging out and playing games and not giving a shit. I think the lounges in the dorms are free to be used by students, so they would be perfect for a game night. We could bring our TVs and stuff in there, order pizza and stuff" suggested Michael, warming up to the idea. He was nervous about getting together with so many people he didn’t know that well. _Oh well, get the fuck over it,_ he scolded himself. _You are here and you are not about to go all four years of college alone and friendless. This will_ not _be a repeat of high school._

"I don't know..."

"Well, at least think about it, Ray. I’m sure it’ll be a fun night. Now, let's hurry up and get to your dorm; all this talk about video games makes me want to kick your ass at Halo," Michael laughed, sprinting ahead of Ray. The Puerto Rican let out a noise somewhere between a grunt and a laugh.

"Like hell you will! Prepare your anus, Michael Jones!" he yelled, much to the horror of passers by, and sprinted off after the laughing red head. 


End file.
